The Bant token/populate/copy commander I have been waiting over a decade for! I have had a Bant populate deck for a long time, and its never had a true commander - Until now! Not only is Brenard, Ginger Sculptor an excellent fit for this archetype, but we also get little gingerbread versions of our creatures! Win win.
I am not very great at formatting so I don't have fancy accordion tabs but all sections will have titles, feel free skip down to Gameplay if you'd like!
The Deck
Bant is PERFECT for token shenanigans! Clones, copying creatures into tokens, Populate, Embalm, Encore, I could go on! Many of our creatures have ETB effects that are doubled when we make token copies of them. We have access to all of the best token doublers like Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Parallel Lives, Adrix and Nev, Twincasters, and Anointed Procession. So not only can we make token copies of nearly anything, but usually we can make two or more of them!
The (Ginger)Bread and Butter of this deck is Versatility!
With so much variety, each game feels new and fun and the deck has a very nonlinear playstyle, copy your creatures, sometimes copy other player's creatures, and make all kinds of tokens. Brenard also allows us a new strategy for tokens: Sacrifice and Birthing pod effects so that we are not reliant on blocking for Brenard's token trigger.
I build for the power level of my playgroup and try to keep things fun, but there are PLENTY of cards you could add to power up the deck. Koma, Cosmos Serpent and Craterhoof Behemoth, to name a few, and all of your standard tutors. Though with Brenard, I've found so far that lower CMC creatures have a much bigger impact. The goal of my playgroup is to not use the same powerful cards in every single deck that has those colors, and use more flavorful options instead - I.e. Instead of a Cyclonic Rift here you'll find Perplexing Test. Is it as powerful? Nope! But we've found its a lot more fun to play this way- it adds variety and fun to the game.
Of course, there's so many directions you could go with Brenard- Food, Golems, Aristocrats, - I've chosen to only include the strongest splicers and focus on Copying and populating because it makes for such a fun game.
A note: my playgroup doesn't use infinite combos, so there's none built into the deck.
Origins
In shifting my longtime token deck to fit Brenard as a commander, I had to cut a lot of fun, high CMC splashy creatures. Because this deck underwent so many changes I have decided to just build both. Brenard wants cheaper CMC creatures that have good ETB or death triggers and if you can protect your board you can do a lot with those token copies. My original deck had more cards like Esix, Fractal Bloom, Hornet Queen, Elminster's Simulacrum, etc. and is a blast while also having a very different playstyle to Brenard. Since brenard is so good at making our creatures into tokens, we don't rely on abilities like embalm or spells that make token copies of our creatures as much. So if you'd like a deck that can copy your creatures or opponents and has more big splashy token targets I would love for you to check out Chulane Copulates Copiously!
The Gameplan
As I've mentioned, Brenard is a Thirsty (Hungry??) Man and he wants as many creatures as possible. Ramp? Creatures. Removal? Creatures. You see where I am going? If we can get Brenard out and keep him out, all of our triggers from creatures are essentially doubled (And that's without any token doublers or populate abilities). Instead of traditional ramp, we have quite a few mana dorks and then cards like Wood Elves and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Instead of more traditional removal we have options like Skyclave Apparition and Solitude etc.
In your opening hand you want at least 2-3 lands, one source of ramp, and one target for Brenard's ability. Cards like Selfless Spirit and Dauntless Escort have proven to be very strong so far, because the can come out before Brenard, protect your board state, have their own sac triggers, and then you can copy them into tokens upon death (which can be doubled or populated for even more shenanigans).
Having access to Birthing Pod and similar effects from cards like Neoform and Eldritch Evolution works perfectly for a deck full of creatures with ETB triggers and allows us to use Brenard like a Toolbox commander. Need an artifact or enchantment destroyed? Knight of Autumn. Need something exiled instead? Solitude. Need something from your graveyard? Would you like your Witness to be Eternal or Timeless? Need to draw some cards? Mulldrifter has your back. I am considering adding Prime Speaker Vannifar but as of now she feels too slow.
On that note Evoke is particularly strong here - Cards like Mulldrifter and Foundation Breaker and Solitude basically give us two triggers AND a token copy for less mana, what's not to love?
In addition to all this value, as long as Brenard is on the board our Food Golem tokens are all 3/3 tramples, which goes a long way with our fliers and other cheap creatures. Aven Wind Guide and Wing Splicer give all of our tokens and golems flying respectively, and Darksteel Splicer makes all of our golem tokens indestructible. Copying Darksteel Splicer isn't very hard with this deck either.
So your goal is to ramp into one or two decent copy targets for tokens, get Brenard out, (and hopefully a sac outlet but this isn't necessary) and start making token copies of your toolbox creatures. If you do have any of the Pod Effect cards, search for one of your token doublers Adrix and Nev, Twincasters or Mondrak, Glory Dominus as soon as you can for extra fun and value.
Feedback Brings me Untold Joy
I have been working on a version or another of this deck for over a decade. It's my favorite deck and I have seen little to no decks like this, so I take a fair deal of pride in it. I love and value all forms of feedback, thoughts, card suggestions, etc. so don't hesitate to drop a comment.
If you've read all this.... Thanks! And Upvotes are always appreciated for those who enjoy the deck! I'm going to keep working on it and hopefully I can make it the number 1 primer for Brenard and Bant Tokens!
